Gas prices rise for seventh-consecutive week

Gasoline prices rose for the seventh week straight, hitting an average $3.744 a gallon for self-serve regular in the government's weekly survey just released. That's up 2.3 cents since last Monday.

In the daily survey by AAA and Opis, the national average price slipped Monday from $3.70 to 3.717 a gallon.

California, the nation's largest gas market, remains the place with the highest prices, the Energy Information Administration reports. A gallon averages $4.129, up about 3.3 cents from $4.096 last week. The Golden State is still reeling from a fire at a major Bay Area refinery that could take months to repair. New England has the second-highest average gas prices at $3.808 a gallon, up from $3.773 a gallon last week.

The cheapest gas is now in the Rocky Mountain states, where it averages $3.535 a gallon, up 3.5 cents. It's now slightly cheaper than the Gulf Coast, where gas prices average about a penny more a gallon.